Gold's Gym announces plan to buy The Rush Fitness chain

(WBIR) One of the most popular names in fitness is gearing up for a change that could affect thousands of people.

The Rush Fitness Complex will be part of the Gold's Gym network by the end of the month.

Gold's Gym spelled out how members stand to benefit from the company acquiring The Rush in a press release sent out Monday morning, and the company says it expects to retain the vast majority of employees from The Rush.

Knoxville Rush managers were in Asheville, North Carolina Monday morning for a meeting and unavailable for comment, but one employee told us they don't know what's going to happen with their jobs.

Knoxville's seven Rush locations are part of 23 across the South East being acquired by Gold's. The gyms will be rebranded within the year and will stay open during this transition. Current members will be converted to Gold's memberships without any interruption.

They'll also gain the ability to workout at Gold's locations across the country, something that already sounds like good news to Rush members.

"I just recently went to the beach and I had to use the hotel's gym which was just one of those simple machines and they had a Gold's Gym down there and that would have been nice to go there," explained Rush member Logan Hammontree.

In a statement, Gold's president and CEO Aaron Watkins says the similarities between what the two gyms offer made the deal attractive.

Several gym owners declined to explain what this acquisition would mean for their business, but Crossfit Knoxville's Johnny Davis explained that most gyms really aren't competing for the same clients.

"We don't do a lot of advertising. Most of our clients come from word of mouth," he said. "They have a friend who did it, they see the results and it brings people in."

What Crossfit Knoxville looks to offer is a group workout with individualized coaching. Thanks to its popularity, most people who stop in for a class know what they're getting in to.

"We don't have a lot of up and down Crossfit isn't something people do on a whim. Our clients commit so we don't see a lot of up and down."